


Woman of Always

by leelee2890 (leelee10289)



Category: Narcos
Genre: Bit Sacastic, F/M, Slow Burn, dea, female DEA, female agent - Freeform, light intimacy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:08:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29101527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leelee10289/pseuds/leelee2890
Summary: Javier Peña had a partner before Steve Murphy came to town. She was the only woman who could ground him in the turbulent world of Colombian drug chasing.
Relationships: Javier Peña/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW completely fictionalizing certain aspects of this for my own purposes, so take nothing as fact or seriously

_My third partner was Agent Molly Buckimore. She was the youngest DEA agent to start to work in Colombia at that time, but don't let that fool you. She had been in Columbia even longer than Javier Peña._

"Murphy!"  
  


A dark haired, five foot one woman walked into the office.

"Yeah, Molly," Steve Murphy gruffed.

_And you never wanted to be on her bad side._

"Where did you two numbskulls go?" she huffed.

"Nowhere Molly. It was a total bust," Javier Peña spoke up.

Molly narrowed her eyes at him but accepted that answer.

Javier walked towards her and put his hands on her side.

"Now quit bullying, Murphy," he tried to sooth, and he was more focused on calming her down than he was on protecting Murphy.

"When he earns it, Peña," she snarked.

Javi conceded that one.

"I was showing him around the city," he explained, "He'll need to learn it anyway."

"Are you meeting her tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah, I will," he nodded.

"Good," she turned to leave out the door, "And make sure you give her enough!"

Javi nodded and gave a mocking salute.

_Don't let her small size fool you because that'll be the last thing you do. She runs the DEA here._

"What's she talking about?" Murphy asked.

"I got a date tonight," Javi smirked.


	2. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am most definitely not a Spanish speaker at all, and it would take me too long to write down the subtitles from the show, put it through Google Translate, and also type in the both translations. So I hope you have mercy on me. This story will be written entirely in English but in italics for any Spanish line.

Molly grabbed her gun and a vest and jumped into Colonel Horacio Carrillo's van.

" _Finally! What took so long?_ " Carrillo asked.

" _Peña took the new guy out. I needed to make sure he didn't do anything stupid_ ," she explained.

" _Still don't trust Peña yet?_ " he asked as their driver rode out to the location.

" _I trust him to watch my back and keep his mouth shut, but he can be too trusting_ ," she explained.

Carrillo nodded at that.

Soon they made their way to where one of Pablo Escobar's laboratories was located.

Molly opened the door and lined her shot towards the building.

Carrillo lined up his shot too.

" _On your mark! Go!_ " he ordered.

Gunfire erupted around the whole place, and it was a bloody bloody shootout. Bodies were flying. Bodies were falling. Overall it lasted all of ten minutes, maybe less.

Molly saw a man run out down a back alleyway, so she picked her gun up and booked it. She sprinted left and right, and down and up some stairs. She jumped up onto a roof top and chased the man who was most definitely one of Pablo's sicarios. When she got a clear angle, she just leveled her handgun and shot him down in the back right by the spine at the base.

" _Stupid bitch!_ " the man shouted as she approached.

She just gave him a Cheshire Cat grin and took out her handcuffs.

" _The Colonel wants to meet with you_ ," she taunted.

She leaned over and handcuffed him.

" _And by the way, it's DEA Bitch_ ," she grabbed him and hauled him over the edge of the roof.

She stomped on the tin roof to get Carrillo's attention.

" _Colonel! Do you want to see him now or later!_ " she asked.

Carrillo gestured towards one of his men to get him.

" _I'm disappointed Colonel! I wanted to see him tumble!_ " she joked.

" _Next time!_ " Carrillo shouted to her.

" _Hear that, sicario. You just missed a fun time_ ," she taunted.

Carrillo's lead soldier, Trujillo, came up with another buddy and grabbed the sicario.

Molly made her way down to Carrillo who patted her on the back which was the highest form of praise you were ever gonna get out of him.

***

A few hours later, Molly was grabbing some food from a nearby bar before she made her way back to her apartment.

" _Hey girl! Want to come with me for the night?_ " some sleaze hollered at her.

She just ignored him and kept on a walking. This was unfortunately normal behavior for males in Colombia, scratch that, it was normal behavior for males in general, but everything was more extreme in Colombia.

" _I want to see you in my bed tonight!_ " another male shouted at her.

Deciding that she didn't want to deal with this mess for the half a mile walk, she took her gun out and fired into the air.

" _Crazy bitch!_ "

" _Fine! I don't want to mess with that_."

" _Crazy, man!_ "

Yeah, that's how we do that.

Molly eventually made her way to the apartment complex that was gifted to them by the American government. It wasn't the nicest of places, but honestly, it wasn't the worst. It was a full scale apartment for an adult.

She made her way to her apartment which was next door to Javier Peña and somewhere below Steve Murphy and his wife, Connie. She unlocked her door and sat her food down. She turned around and triple locked her door. She added two other locks for protection. Call her crazy or paranoid, but she knew she was a target. She was a female DEA who had a reputation of being "crazy".

***

She had just finished supper when she heard a knock at her door. Rolling her eyes, she knew exactly who it was that was probably gracing her apartment. Only one person ever showed up this late, and it was normally because he needed money.

She grabbed her gun anyway and went to answer it.

"Javi, what do you need now?"

She leaned against the doorframe as she looked at her old partner who was there looking tired and shirtless.

"I don't have enough money," he asked unabashedly.

"You spend it on too many cigarettes and beer," she mocked.

"Shut up."

"She's got good info?"

Javi nodded.

"Let me see," she smirked.

She grabbed her wallet before following Javi into his apartment. She instantly noticed the taller dark haired woman standing in his kitchen.

" _Who's this, Javi?_ " the woman asked.

" _My partner. She can get you a Visa if you're nice and tell her everything you know_ ," Javi explained.

" _Partner? Ooh! She's the DEA Bitch I keep hearing about!" the woman exclaims in surprise, "She's got your balls_ , Javi?"

" _Do they all really talk about me? I'm honored_ ," she mocked, " _But no. I don't have his balls. I think you do... But I am the one who can get his documents signed_."

This caused the woman to stop talking.

"This is Helena. She was telling me about some party in Medellín," Javi explained.

"How much?" she asked.

She was tired and wanted to get on with it.

"It's some pretty good intel," he spoke.

She took out her wallet and handed him two $20.

"I don't have much else on me right now," she told him, "But I'll get her Visa signed if the info's good.

"Thanks."

She handed him the cash who handed it over toHelena. He also explained what was going on to her. Like how she would get her Visa.

"Are you done?" she asked Javi.

"Yeah, we're done."

"I'll walk her out," she turned to Helena, " _Come on_."

Molly walked Helena out to the front of the complex.

" _Be very careful. Those men won't hesitate to leave you in a ditch somewhere_ ," she warned the prostitute, " _or worse._ "

" _I think I can handle myself, Miss DEA. I know what I'm doing_ ," Helena retorted.

" _And I know what I'm doing. Believe me I want to sign a Visa slip, not a Death Certificate_ ," she spoke wisely.

Molly left Helena when her ride got there. She made her way back to her apartment where Javi was lurking in the hallway.

"Someone is gonna call the police on you if you keep doing this," she told him.

Javi gave her a cheeky smile.

"Come on."

She gestured for him to follow her into her apartment this time.

Javi spend a lot of time there when his lady friends left. He was like a lost puppy dog that way. He was a loner who didn't like being alone.

She sympathized with him on that so she allowed him over most days.

He mostly just wanted to chill on her couch and watch TV or to sleep in a bed with someone he trusted, not in a sexy way by any means. Their relationship wasn't a sexual one really. He had other methods if he wanted that, and most of those came with intel to the cartels they were chasing after.


	3. 2

Steve looked really confused when he saw Javi and Molly leave her apartment together the next morning.

She wished she had taken a photo of that moment. His mouth was open and gaping.

"Close your mouth," Connie scolded although she looked just as confused as well.

The few meetings she had with Molly weren't terrible, but the woman had a brashness that she had a hard time keeping up with.

"It's okay, Connie. You can just fish the flies out later," she told her.

Connie grimaced at that.

Murphy closed his mouth but still looked confused at them.

"Oh by the way, Molly, Javier, do you want to stay for dinner tonight?" Connie asked.

"Sure. I don't have much money anymore anyway."

"Okay," Javi answered too.

"You're out of money already?" Murphy asked.

"Yes," she tersely replied.

Javi nudged her in the side playfully.

Yep, she found that most of her paychecks went to funding his late night activities. If that's what it takes to catch Escobar, then that was a sacrifice she was unfortunately willing to take. Plus those girls needed the money most of the time anyway. No one really wants to be a hooker.

"Are we ready to go?" Javi asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'm driving," Murphy noted.

Molly shoved Javi into the car a bit more forcefully than she probably should have.

She didn't make a terrible paycheck, but she didn't make as much as the guys either, so having Javi suck up most of her finances most days was a pain.

***

Molly sat stood behind Javi as he explained to Ambassador Noonan why they needed to go to Medellín.

"And can Agent Buckimore vouch for you, Peña?" Noonan looked to her now.

She gave a nod to the older woman.

"Fine, you can go, but if I find out one American dollar went to one of those hookers believe me, I'll have you suspended," Noonan threatened.

"By the way, I have a Visa slip I need signed," Javi mentioned.

She gripped his shoulders hard.

"That Molly needs signed," he backpedaled.

_I did mention she ran the place._

"Get out of my sight, Peña," Noonan ordered.

Molly gestured for them to leave while she gave Noonan the form. Being a woman only worked out well in this business when she had to deal with another woman who got what that meant.

Molly got what she needed and walked out to see them all gossiping.

"Is your informant really a hooker?" Murphy asks.

Oh naive Murphy, he was in for a rude awakening.

"Everybody works for somebody," Javi answered.

"Everybody except me," Molly spoke out.

Javier shook his head in jest.

"You're telling me you don't work for anybody," Murphy gestured around the area, "Are you sure?"

"I play by my own rules."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah right," Murphy threw over his.

Javier chuckled after them.

***

"So Molly, how'd you get started working here in Bogota and Colombia?" Connie asked her.

Molly put down her fork and looked at the woman.

"I got sent here straight out of training," she admitted.

"Didn't you get started anywhere in the US?" Connie asked.

"I did a few intership type stuff in Memphis, but uhh, this is my first full time position," Molly spoke.

"Memphis, Tennessee?" Connie clarified.

"Only good one. I walked on Beale Street taking weed from teens," she grinned.

"So what led to you coming to Colombia?" Murphy asked.

Molly smirked sardonically.

"I made the wrong, or right, people mad, and I knew Spanish. Enough said."

"Are you sure you're cut out for this?" Murphy asked.

"She's young, but I told you she's a damn good agent, Murphy," Javier stepped in.

"And I've been here longer than you two yahoos put together, so maybe I would think more on whether or not you're cut out for this," Molly snipped.

"Javier, how long have you lived in Bogota?" Connie asked.

"Five years," he answered, "Almost six."

"Molly?" Connie asked as well.

"Seven, almost eight."

_See when she started Colombia wasn't widely known to the general public as a big cocaine market. Now only the best get sent there, or the only ones dumb enough to be in the thick of it._

"Did you have a partner before Javier?"

"Yeah, Robert Norwell. He was, ahh, retired in place."

"So how'd you fare before Javi?" Murphy asked.

"Carrillo. He, uhh, took me under his wing so to speak. He taught me everything I know about how to function in Bogota," she explained.

"The same Carrillo that we both know?" Javi asked for clarity.

"The only one."

"Why'd he do that again?" Javi asked knowingly.

Molly rolled her eyes at him. He was trying to get her to explain to Murphy why she was so good. Not for her benefit but for his.

"On my first job with him, I shot a sicario off a building," she explained.

"You killed a sicario on your first day," Murphy asked in disbelief.

"Not my first day. My first day with him. He's the Colonel and leader of the Search Bloc. I chased a guy on the roof and shot him off it," she continued.

Connie looked a little troubled, so Molly proceeded to elaborate.

"I didn't mean to. I shot him in the knees... I just didn't realize how close he was to the edge," she continued, "He lived, but he definitely sustained quite a few fractures."

Murphy looked impressed and stopped questioning her on her abilities after that.

***

A few hours later, Molly and Javier were walking down to their apartments.

"See what I mean about the third degree burn all the time," she spoke to Javi.

"I know... but maybe I like hearing you explain yourself all the time," he joked.

"It gets old, Javi," she groaned.

"I know," he grabbed her by her waist and twirled her towards her door.

He leaned over her while her back was pressed into the cool metal of the apartment door. His forehead was almost touching hers. His hands were gently on her waist.

Molly grabbed onto his jacket and pulled him in closer. Her arms moved to wrap around his neck. She felt her breath hitch as he took a step closer. He moved one of his hands up to cup her face.

"Can I come in?"

She pressed her hands towards her so that his forehead was against hers.

"You came in last night."

"I didn't hear a no," he smirked as he pulled her keys out from her jacket.

She kept them in hidden pocket.

He reached over and unlocked her door, and she pulled him side. He kept one arm wrapped around her waist as she spun them inside. He pressed his lips to her cheek before she pulled away.

"I'm going to bed," she spoke before leaving him to go to her bedroom.

Javi watched longingly as she walked away. He would never admit it, but he was growing to love their partnership even more.


	4. 3

Molly drove up to Carrillo's training school with Javi and Murphy. When they arrived, Carrillo was the first one they saw.

" _Your intel was good. The traquetos are gathering at Las Margaritas_ ," Carrillo greeted Javi.

Murphy walked up to them.

"I want you to meet our new DEA, Steve Murphy," Javi introduced.

" _Fresh meat_ ," Carrillo commented.

" _The freshest_ ," Molly added.

" _Can't be fresher than you were when you showed up, Doll_ ," Carrillo countered.

Molly's silence told him his answer, and he chuckled and patted her on the back.

***

A few hours later, they were all in a hotel watching to see who showed up.

Murphy crouched by the window with a camera. He was taking photos of all who showed up.

Carlos Lehder, the Ochoa Brothers, Fernando Galeano "the Wolfman", Gacha, and lastly Gustavo and Pablo.

"Can't we just blow it up now?" Molly whistled.

_In hindsight, we probably should have. We would of had a much lower body count at least._

"I wish," Carrillo commented.

***

Javier led them to the place they were supposed to meet Helena,.... and she was late.

Molly didn't like that one bit.

"She should be here by now," Javi spoke.

She could tell he was getting more anxious by the second.

"You think she slipped?" Murphy asked.

"Nah, she's no dummy," Javi answered.

"Doesn't mean a mistake can't be made," she told him.

Javi grimaced at her but pushed his thoughts down for the moment.

Carrillo leaned against the police car.

"Maybe she's getting pretty for you," he commented.

Eventually they had waited long enough.

"They're telling me the girl left long ago," Carrillo reported after he got off the phone with his intel team, "She's already dead."

"No, they wouldn't kill her at the hotel," Javi countered.

"Then they killed her somewhere else. She knew the risks," Carrillo pointed out.

"If we're going back, we go back now," Murphy spoke up.

Javi walked over and half whispered to Carrillo, " _I want you to find the girl._ "

" _I can pick up a sicario. You okay with that?_ " Carrillo asked.

" _I'm going with you_ ," Javi answered.

" _What about Fresh Meat?_ " Carrillo asked and turned to her.

_"I'll stay here then. Javi should go with you_ ," Molly suggested.

" _Alright_. Gonna stick around here, and see if she shows up, okay?" Javi half ordered Murphy.

"Yeah, and where are you going?" Murphy asked.

"We're gonna go look for her," Javi said as they walked off to another police car.

Molly leaned against the car next to another officer who was in the passenger's seat of their police car.

"Where's he going?" Murphy asked her.

She knew that he knew something was up. It didn't take a real genius to know everyone was hiding something in Colombia.

"Like he said. He's gonna look for her," she told him.

The silence was tense.

Murphy got fed up with waiting and walked over to another officer.

"Any news on the radio?" he asked.

" _Should I tell him?_ " one asked.

" _No. Remember what Carrillo said_ ," another replied.

" _You just tell me what Carrillo says. I'll make sure it's a need to know basis for the gringo_ ," Molly told them.

" _Yes, ma'am_."

"Sorry, no English," one told Murphy who huffed and walked back to his spot against the car.

"Don't think too much on it, Murphy. They'll let you know something," she told him.

Murphy glared at her as he knew she was keeping something from him too.

Eventually they got the call they were either dreading or hoping for.

" _Copy that_ ," one answered, " _Miss! They have her!_ "

"Hey, gringo! Carrillo is calling. Come on," another hollered to Murphy.

Molly jumped into the back of the police car.

" _I don't speak English_ , huh," Murphy retorted but jumped into the car too.

"Ignore that. Let's go," she ordered.

It didn't take but twenty minutes at a max to get to where Peña and Carrillo were, but oh boy, Murphy was seething the whole way down.

Molly got out of the car and looked around. She instantly noticed the ambulance and how unrelaxed Javi looked in the distance. It must not have been pretty.

"Where the fuck's Peña?" Murphy shouted, " _Where's Peña?_ "

"Over here," Molly gestured to him.

" _Over there_ ," a soldier pointed to him.

Murphy stalked over to where the other two were.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Sedated," Javi answered.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Murphy asked.

"Physically, yeah," Javi looked worn, "Mentally, I don't have a fucking clue."

Murphy got right to it.

"You left me behind on purpose," he started.

"Look man...," Javi started.

"If we're gonna be partners, I don't get left behind. I didn't come all the way down here to sit on the fucking sidelines," Murphy paced around to each of them, "Whatever's going on here... I'm in all the way. Is that understood?"

"Understood," Javi spoke to him face to face.

Murphy walked over to Molly and looked her in the eye which was more like leaning down threateningly even if that wasn't really his intent.

"Is that understood?" he asked again.

"Understood, Blondie, but you're taking a ride with me tomorrow," Molly seriously spoke.

"Fine," Murphy answered before taking a few steps back.

Javi walked past them both and grabbed a beer from the vendor. He turned around and handed it to Murphy.

"I hope you know what that means," Javi spoke seriously.

Carrillo patted the seat next to him, and Molly walked over and sat down.

Javi bought a coke and handed it to her before grabbing another beer for himself.

"No money, my ass," she retorted at him.

"Not enough," he countered before taking another chug.

Thinking about Helena was making him feel more guilt about what happened to her.

Molly looked around at them before deciding to get them back to some form of business for the night.

"Okay."

They turned to her.

"I'll write the report tonight on a need to know basis. You two just let me know what I need to know."

_There's the other reason she ran the DEA in Colombia. She knew how to do the paperwork, and she knew exactly what to include and what not to include for them to all keep their jobs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some chapters are more recaps of the episodes, but some aren’t. I try to incorporate Molly in a realistic or natural manner into the story. Sorry if this is more summary than new.


	5. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m taking creative liberties on this chapter, not historical ones. Don’t take anything factually.

Molly waited by her car for Murphy to get there. Javi was gonna stay at the base and finish filling out his report from the night before. He was also gonna take care of a few things that would get Helena out of Colombia and into safe hands.

This wasn't the first time they had to give an emergency Visa trip, but it had been quite a while since it was this messy. On one hand, she was glad Helena was alive, but on the other, she understood that her mind would be irreparably damaged.

She woke up extra early and visited her at the hospital before her meeting with Murphy. She was still unconscious but under heavy sedation still, so she had no idea what her mental state was. She also double checked on who was guarding her to make sure they weren't gonna let someone in who would continue to do her harm.

"You look tired," Murphy commented as he walked over to her.

"Wow. Make sure to tell your wife that," she mocked.

"Where are we going?"

"Always asking that question, huh. We're going out. I've got my phone. Javi or Carrillo will give me a call if they need us to be anywhere specific," she explained.

Murphy jumped into the passenger side of her car.

She pulled out and drove them down the streets of Bogota.

"Tell me what you see," she asked.

Murphy took his time to glance around.

"Shops, buildings, people."

"More in depth."

"What do you want me to see?" Murphy huffed.

Molly parked the car with a view of some of the city.

"I want you to see the situation in front of us. This is the reason why the cartels are the governing body amongst the people," she turned to look at him, "Desperate people do desperate things."

"Why are you here? In Colombia."

"It's not like I actually care about the drugs. I mean, people make their own choices," she admitted, "But you do what you can, right? Help out desperate people."

"I joined the hunt for Escobar because one of his men killed my previous partner. La Quica," Murphy admitted.

"I'd like to put a bullet into La Quica myself, but if you're around, I might let you do it," she chuckled.

"I'd appreciate it," he turned to her.

He was finally coming to an understanding with her.

Hearing her phone go off, she picked it up.

"Molly, we have a location to a low profile lab. Where are you?" Javi asked.

"On the ridge. Where's the lab?"

"Not far from you."

She wrote down the address.

"Who's lab?"

"From a tier five, maybe six. You should be able to close it down yourself," he spoke.

"On it. I'll keep you posted," she told him.

"What's going on?" Murphy asked.

"Low tier raid. I think we're on our own."

"Great."

***

Molly drove as fast as possible to the location. It wasn't in a large area either. This was probably a lab for local productions. It was far to small to belong to the main cartels, but that didn't mean that a main cartel didn't govern it. It just meant they wouldn't put any real money into protecting it.

Molly and Murphy got out of the car and silently moved towards the door. She gestured for him to go around to the back. She made her way to the front. There were was two small windows on her level and two on the top level.

Breaking down the door with a kick, she burst in with her gun up.

" _Drop all weapons! Police!_ " she shouted.

She ducked down to avoid some fire, but one well placed bullet shot down the attacker. She shut the door behind her and kicked a chair in place to block it.

She counted about four people, not including the one on the ground who was most likely dead. There were two small tables of cocaine. This was more like a hobby set up than a lab.

Murphy appeared behind the people in the room.

"Go clear upstairs!" she ordered, "I've got these people."

She turned to the scared looking lab workers. Three of whom were middle aged women, and the other was a teenage, maybe tween, boy.

" _Hands up! Against the wall!_ " she ordered.

She quickly got two of them in handcuffs when Murphy came down leading two in handcuffs as well. Both were middle to elderly aged men.

She surmised this was probably a set up lab. One of the sicarios or bosses gave someone the resources to "get started" in the business, and when they knew it was going, they tipped it off themselves so that the DEA or police would be chasing after that instead of an actual lab.

Murphy got the other two handcuffed.

"I'm gonna call Carrillo," she told him, "Keep an eye on them. I already put down one shooter."

***

Murphy watched as Molly typed up the report for their last job.

"Who's lab was it?" he asked.

"No one's. This was a fake lab essentially," she said as she continued to type.

She hated typewriters. The sliding nonsense and when one mistake was made, stupid. She preferred pens at this rate. If it wasn't for the fact that she didn't trust the guys to fill out the report properly, she would make them do it.

"Fake lab?"

"Yeah. It's like a really elaborate prank on us."

"Explain."

"We must have gotten really close to a real lab, so one of the bosses got a fake one so that we would waste our time clearing that one out."

"Hard to believe they'd share their secrets to do just that," Murphy said in disbelief.

"Lab's supposed to get back to me on what they're using, but I would give you my whole next paycheck that it's some low dose crap," she grinned at him.

"And you need the money.... So what happens to them now?"

"They get processed and jailed or whatever happens here in Colombia. Not really worth my time to think about much. We busted it, and that's all that matters."

"So what would happen if we didn't bust it since, like you said, it's fake?"

"Well... most of the time, the real cartel bosses take care of it themselves. I'm doing these people a real service by cracking down on them."

They all turned around when Javi walked into the office.

"You find anything worthwhile?"

"Nope. Here," he handed her what paperwork he had already filled out.

"Great," she groaned.

"Where'd you go?" Murphy asked Javi.

"I went with Carrillo to check out where the caller was. Total bust. Nothing there. No witnesses," he also huffed.

Javi walked over and began to rub her shoulders.

"Do I need to leave you two alone?" Murphy asked.

His eyebrows seemed more connected to his hairline than his eyes.

"No," she deadpanned.

She kept on typing.

"Okay," he whistled off a bit uncomfortably.


	6. 5

"I'm more of a dog man myself, but no cat deserves this," Javi exclaimed.

Molly took the photo next and grimaced. Poor kitty cat.

"Did you tell anyone about why you were down here? Someone on the plane? Someone you meet at a restaurant?" he prompted.

"Course not," Murphy said like we thought he was stupid.

"Not to get personal, but have you had any, uh.... encounters?" Javi sheepishly asked.

"Encounters?" Murphy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," he continued as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"I'm married," Murphy scoffed.

"I'm glad, otherwise, I would shoot you dead myself for Connie's sake," Molly pointed at him.

"Right," Javi said a bit off.

Yeah, he has probably had sex with several husbands' wives.

"Only people I've encountered outside the DEA and my wife are those Colombian cops in Medellín," Murphy spoke.

"No, no, Carrillo's solid," Javi defended.

"Unless you gave your information to any of his men," she added, "Not all are trustworthy, but I'm sure those with us are. I've worked with them several times."

"Did anyone have access to your credentials?" Javi asked, "Did you drop your wallet?"

"Passport," Murphy said in realization.

"You gave someone your passport?" Javi asked surprised.

"We were trying to get Puff through immigration," Murphy explained.

"Puff?" Javi asked.

"I didn't name it, dude," Murphy exclaimed.

Toxic masculinity complex.

"I think Puff is a cute name," Molly defended.

"Traffickers pay people at the airports for intel. A gringo coming in from Miami raises suspicions. That's how you got made. Don't let it rattle you. That's what they want. You probably got a price on your head but no one's gonna take the contract," Javi explained.

"Fucking price on my head?" Murphy's eyes shot up.

"There's a standing bounty of 350,000 US on any DEA down here, but you're safe.... because of Kiki," Javi reminded him.

It was a gruesome tale to say the least, but it was a stark reminder that the DEA had a slight immunity in the world. She took it with a grain of salt, but sometimes it was the only thing that kept any of them calm.

"Do not tell Connie that story," Murphy warned.

"I won't, but you shouldn't forget it either," Javi looked at him.

"Why?"

"This cat is DEA. Mark my words, it will get justice," Javi promised.

Molly grinned when she saw the strange look on his face as he looked at the cat photo.

***

Molly followed the guys to meet with her favorite slimy informant. Javi sat down next to her while Murphy stood behind them.

" _Let's see, you are here for a cat?_ " Suárez asked in disbelief after she explained the situation.

" _This isn't just any cat. This is a gringo cat of the DEA_ ," Javi explained.

"What's he saying?" Murphy asked.

"I'm telling him about the cat," Javi explained.

Molly felt like turning around and stomping on Murphy's foot. Ask these questions later, dumbass. At least pretend that you know what he's saying. You choose to come to a Spanish speaking country, act the part at the very least.

" _And what you want is for me to find a cat killer?_ " Suárez asked again.

" _It was the narcos, Suárez. We don't take this shit, lightly._ " Javi enforced.

Suárez turned to Murphy.

" _Your friends are a little crazy_ ," he told him.

" _I don't speak Spanish._ I don't know what you're saying," Murphy answered.

" _I don't speak English_ ," Suárez returned.

" _Get me some information, Suárez_ ," Javi pressed.

" _Look, I don't have enough people to go through hundreds of hours of chatter over a fucking cat. If this was information about the narcos, yes, my people are interested. But they won't give a fuck about the ca_ t," Suárez continued.

"What is he saying?" Murphy asked.

"They don't like cats in this country," Javi retorted irritatedly.

"Tell me about it," Murphy returned.

At this, she did turn around and stomp on his foot, and to his credit, he didn't act like it hurt him much.

" _But if you want to put all my people to work to find out who killed the fucking cat, that is going to cost you more_ ," Suárez spoke.

Molly placed some cash on the table.

" _They broke into the house to kill this cat. I think they made him when he arrived at the airport in Bogota_ ," Javi explained.

Molly slid a paper and pen over.

"Is that a D-103?" Murphy asked.

"Yep."

"Let me get this straight. Gotta pay this cop off for information, then you gotta get a receipt?" Murphy asked.

"I gotta get reimbursed," Molly explained, "Printed money does not grow on trees."

***

" _This gentleman is an employee of the American embassy in our country, and he assures me that you have out his personal information to certain criminal_ s," the interrogator spoke.

He was a Colombian detective.

" _That's not true_ ," one of the airport employees spoke.

" _These guys killed his cat. Maybe you don't know this, but the mistreatment of animals is a federal crime_ ," the interrogator spoke.

One of the guys laughed, but was quickly admonished with a slap.

" _They can being formal charges against you, and you could loose your job. Do you not need your job Santiago?_ " the interrogator continued.

" _Yes, I need it_ ," Santiago admitted.

The interrogator gestured for them to go in.

"Mr. Murphy, do you recognize these men?" he asked.

"Yeah, you guys stalled me at the airport, so you could take my passport, and copy and scan it, didn't you?" Murphy intimidated.

" _What?_ " the other one asked.

"May I?" Javi asked.

Molly patted him on the back as he leaned down.

" _You both are being accused of conspiring against a federal agent of the United States. The cat is under jurisdiction of the American government_ ," Javi turned around to sit on the desk, " _And to kill it is the same as to kill a police dog_."

" _This is absurd_ ," the other one cracked, " _Look, I'm a Colombian citizen, and I know exactly my-._ "

Their ace interrogator smacked the man in the face.

" _You will not disrespect them! Is that clear?_ "

" _If I open my mouth, they will kill me, and they kill my wife_ ," he defended.

" _He's having problems with his wife_ ," Santiago interjected.

" _Shut up!_ "

" _Okay, gentlemen. This is quite simple. I can get the phone number of the person to whom you sent those documents, and I can tell him that you accused him of being the cat killer. How does that sound?_ "

" _I sent a copy of that passport to a man they call 'Poison'._ "

Molly knew who Poison was. He was a bastard who battled with La Quica over who had the most kills.

"I have a phone call to make," she spoke before walking out.

***

"According to CNP wiretaps, the sicario 'Poison' was recorded saying he was driving to Bogota this afternoon," Javi explained to Noonan.

They were all gathered around a board filled with Pablo's top members.

"For what purpose, we don't know, but if we don't respond to obvious threat to Agent Murphy, we're sending the wrong message," Javi continued.

"Police have the information then they should make the arrest," Noonan spoke.

"No, no, if we leave it to them, someone will sell us out. The narcos have informants in their department," Javi explained.

Noonan still looked confused.

This is what Molly had been dealing with for almost eight years. This was the level of incompetence that led her to Colombia, and the same one that allowed these cartels to become the powerhouses they really were.

"What Peña's driving at is that Major Carrillo should man a roadblock," Murphy explained further.

"We can trust Carrillo," Molly enforced.

"I don't have authority over the Colombian police," Noonan spoke finally.

"All due respect, Ambassador, but you know where we are. With enough money, you can get anything done." Javi enforced.

"Leave," Noonan ordered Javi and Murphy whom grumbled about that.

Molly turned around to the woman.

"You've been here longer. What do you suggest?" Noonan asked.

That's right. Noonan was appointed Colombian Ambassador about three months into her time there.

"I can give Carrillo a call. He'll do whatever it takes to take down Escobar. He's killed enough of his men,.... but we do need money. That's the key to stopping all of this. Those men will follow anyone who provides them with enough of that," Molly spoke.

"Well then get to work Agent Buckimore."


	7. 6

"Excuse me for saying so.... but this isn't much of a roadblock, is it?" Murphy asked.

Molly had to hold her self back from punching Murphy in the gut. Hadn't they been through this enough?

"Well, if the roadblock is too obvious, Pablo can be tipped off by a cop or by a passerby, who knows," Carrillo spoke exasperated.

"Can anybody in this country keep a secret?" Murphy asked irritatedly.

"When you get a billion dollars to blow, you can give me your answer?" snarked Molly.

Carrillo put a hand on her back to hold her back.

"I've got a spotter set up about four kilometers away. He's gonna let us know when Poison passes," he explained.

"You're gonna question them, right? Because we need to-," Javi persisted.

"Poison's killed three of my men already. If I can catch him alive, you guys can question him here. Then you guys gotta go," Carrillo intimidated before stalking away.

"Thanks guys. You made him mad," she snarled before punching them both in the shoulder.

"Ow! Right hook on her," Murphy commented.

She walked over to where Carrillo was talking to his men and the local farmer who was helping them.

"What does she have with him?" Murphy asked.

"She's like his apprentice. It's freaky," Javi commented, "Like mini Carrillo with a skirt."

Both men smiled to each other in some inside joke.

Molly grabbed some fruit and took a bite while Javi and Murphy went to lean against the stand.

All they had todo was wait until something happened which wasn't too long. Carrillo's radio got a buzz.

"Okay. We have visual confirmation. Four kilometers away," Carrillo called out as he put down his radio.

They all went to hide until the car approached.

Soon enough though, a green car pulled up, and Carrillo had it surrounded.

"That's definitely not Poison," Molly commented.

The police began a thorough search of the vehicle anyway.

This continued on for about four vehicles more.

Murphy and Javi sat on a hay bail next to the stand, looking dejected.

Molly walked over and put her hand on Javi's shoulder comfortingly.

They watched as another car drove off, and Carrillo walked over to them.

"I'm calling this off. No one's coming," he spoke.

"What the fuck happened here?" Murphy asked.

"Maybe Poison spotted the spotter," Javi suggested.

"Either that or Suárez sold you out," Carrillo responded.

"Slimy Suárez. Remind me why I don't blow him full of holes," she muttered angrily.

This wasn't the first time he'd double crossed them.

Javi reached over and placed his hands on her shoulders this time to keep her in place.

"Yeah, if he did, he must've had a better offer, and it wasn't a fucking cat," Javi huffed.

"And I haven't even been refunded for this!" she seethed.

Javi rubbed her tense shoulders while Carrillo gave him a dirty look.

Murphy began to feel quite uncomfortable about this situation.

"I need to get back to raiding what labs we can find," Carrillo told them.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Molly asked.

"Sure," he gestured for her to follow him.

"Don't file this report without me!" she shouted to them before she walked off with Carrillo.

"Dude, we gotta talk about the PDA?" Murphy turned to Javi.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Javi looked off.

"Bullshit," Murphy retorted, "Every time I turn around one of you has your hands on the other."

"So what?" Javi asked.

"I just... makes me uncomfortable."

"I don't say anything about you and your wife."

"Because she's my wife."

"And she's my.... partner," Javi flubbed.

"Partner?" Murphy's eyebrows shot up, "I never did any of those things with my 'partner'."

"Let's just go," Javi muttered irritated.

Murphy threw his hands up in defense, but he couldn't hide the grin on his face. He may actually be figuring out how to deal with his new partners.

***

Molly walked into the office with blood on her clothes. Carrillo got a call, and they went to raid a lab. It was just a bloody mess though by the time they got there. It was already raided, but by someone who probably wasn't a law enforcement officer.

"Molly," Murphy called out.

He was the only there, as Javi left two hours earlier for some client information which meant prostitutes.

"Oh Murphy. I didn't know you'd still be here."

"Yeah, well. I figured you'd want help with the report."

"I didn't, but fine, I probably will need to know how well you can file. Just in case I don't want to do it," she smirked.

"So, uhhh, what happened here?" Murphy saw the blood on her shirt.

"Someone else got to a lab before us, and uhh, there was a body on some balcony thing," she explained.

"Do you want to do this tomorrow?"

"Nah, it's better if I do it while it's fresh on the brain," she walked over to Javi's desk and pulled out a shirt from a compartment.

"How'd you...?"

"I stuffed it in there," she explained.

She walked over to a curtain and went behind it. A moment later, she stepped out wearing Javi's shirt instead.

Murphy couldn't help but notice how well it fit her. If he hadn't seen Javi wear it last week, he would have sworn it was hers to begin with.

"Did you uncover anymore information?"

"Oh! Uhhh, no. We came back here and tried to figure out what went wrong," Murphy told her.

Molly sat down in a seat next to him.

"I can tell you what went wrong. Suárez is slimier than Jabba the Hut."

Murphy whistled at her.

"I didn't take you for a Star Wars fan."

"Han Solo is hot."

Murphy laughed as he leaned over and brought out the dreaded typewriter.

"Oh how I hate that thing."

***

Two more hours later, Murphy dropped Molly off at her door. He had promised to drive her to work the next day since her car was left at the embassy. It was the southern part of him that couldn't leave a young woman going home alone. Plus with the high crime rate in the area, he didn't want to be too careful. They had just gone on a trip because someone broke into his house and killed his cat.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome. Anytime," Murphy acknowledged before he walked up the stairs to his own apartment.

Molly unlocked her door and went in. She really needed to pick up in here. There were clothes on the couch, and she was certain they were Javi's. He had stayed over the past few days. Honestly if it wasn't for his nightly activities, he could probably live here.

Normally he was pretty clean too. His apartment, aside from beer bottles on the occasion, was immaculate. He was lax in nature, but there was a rigorous order to him. He couldn't stand things being out of place or being in a system he couldn't figure out. He normally filed the paperwork in their boxes to perfection. He poured over files to a degree that put librarians to shame.

He was an interesting character to say the least. She remembered when he first walked into the office here in Colombia. He had been a complete jerk to her to be honest. He only saw her as a kid who didn't understand the first thing about being a DEA agent in the field, and if he had met her when she first started, he would have been right, but Colombia's drug ring had a way of aging you beyond your years.


	8. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a slightly different type of chapter.
> 
> Italics is flashback.  
> Bold is Spanish and flashback.

Javi walked outside of his apartment to smoke. He normally would have just done it inside, but he needed the fresh air. He looked over to Molly's apartment. He could hear the TV going, but it was on some channel he was sure she wasn't watching. She had probably fallen asleep on the the couch again. Honestly, sometimes he felt like he was babysitting her. He thought about knocking on her door and waking her up, but she had the day off tomorrow so she could sleep in.

He remembered when he first met her. He was a real son of a bitch.

_Agent Robert Norwell was introducing him to all the people around the embassy. First it was the Retired in Place boys, then the CIA department, if you could call those bozos that, then the Ambassador. He was quite surprised to see that it was a woman. He knew Norwell was retiring within the week. He was actually surprised that he had been around to give him any introductions at all._

_He saw a young dark haired girl walk into the office, but he didn't pay her much mind except maybe for some fun later. She must be some secretary or something. He was surprised to see her walk over and mess with stuff in the DEA desks._

_"Who's she?" he leaned over to the elderly man._

_"Oh that's your new partner, Molly Buckimore," Norwell introduced._

_"She looks like she got out of training yesterday," he surmised, "No, no, this won't work out. I'm not babysitting the trainee."_

_"Don't worry about it. She's been here a bit longer. Besides with her here, I've been RIP this whole time," Norwell assured him._

_Javier did not look convinced._

_"Molly! Get over here! Meet your new partner!" Norwell called for her._

_"He better be less lazy than you," she muttered as she stalked over._

_"Come on now. Give an old man a break. I'm retiring next week," he joked._

_"You've been retired since I got here," she countered._

_Prickly too. Piece of work._

_"Agent Javier Peña meet Molly Buckimore. Molls meet Peña," Norwell continued, quite oblivious to the tense atmosphere._

_This only enforced to Javier that Norwell really didn't know what he was talking about._

_They shook hands tensely._

_"Well I'm gonna talk to Ken," he spoke before leaving them alone._

_They stared each other down for a moment before Javier made his move._

_"I'm letting you know that I'm not gonna pick up any slack from you. I've been an agent long enough to know when one's inexperienced," he enforced._

_"I don't need you to pick up my slack. I'm more worried about needing to pick up yours, Old Man," she snarked back._

_They both back away from each other when someone ran in._

_"Agent Molly, Carrillo needs some help," a secretary huffed out._

_"I'm on my way," she started out before turning back to him, "And Tod, make sure the newbie is briefed on how things work here in Bogota."_

He smiles at that memory. She was still a piece of work, but now he understood why. She was a damn good agent who saved his life on more than one occasion.

_Molly and Javier had been more than a little hostile towards each other for the first few weeks. The workplace was a near nightmare for all of them. Whenever they got a call, they would fight over who would go out._

_Sometimes Javier would go, but more times than not, the local police would call on Molly. Even Colonels and Majors that weren't Carrillo. He couldn't figure out why except maybe they liked having a hot young woman by their side who wouldn't. He certainly enjoyed the company of beautiful women._

_"Agents? We might have a situation soon," a secretary, Tod, told them._

_"And?" Molly asked heatedly._

_"Carrillo needs you," Tod said._

_"I'm not getting left here," Javier stood up._

_"Really? You want to start that now?" she asked._

_"I believe he wants both of you anyway," Tod spoke up._

_"Fine, but don't slow me down," she snarled as she got up._

_"Only if you can keep up," Javier argued as he stalked towards the door._

_They were soon in a police car with Carrillo, speeding towards a sicario hangout spot. Carrillo had briefed them on who would be there. He was hoping it was Gustavo and, hopefully, Pablo Escobar._

_"What's the plan?" Molly asked._

_"We're gonna take them as secretly as possible. You go behind. I'll go forward. Peña takes the side. My men follow suit," Carrillo ordered, "We don't want them spooked and leaving."_

_Very quickly all three members were making their way to their respective doors. No one realized that there was a secret exit to the place. It was a sicario hangout that Pablo build himself._

_It was bloody shootout that resulted in several deaths of policemen._

_Javier had to duck to avoid several bullets. He wasn't sure he could have survived those even with his vest on. He saw Popeye, one of Escobar's men, run out the door._

_Making a quick decision, he ran out after him. He ran between some alleyways but soon came up empty._

_Hearing some creaking above him, he turned out to come face to face with Popeye with his gun pointed at his head. He knew this would be it._

_He raised his gun anyway, but Popeye went down in front of his eyes. A bullet went through his chest._

_He turned to see Molly standing on a higher building a little ways off. Her arms lowered, and she was breathing heavily. It was obvious to him that she had quickly scaled up to stay above the sicario._

_She nodded to him, and he nodded back in acknowledgment. She shot the man again twice to be sure he wasn't getting back up._

_Javier and Molly soon made their way back to Carrillo._

_" **He was here. One of my men saw him, but must have escaped some way. We had him surrounded!** " Carrillo shouted angrily._

_" **Calm down. We'll get him next time** ," she tried to console him._

_" **We better!** " Carrillo shouted before stalking off towards his car._

_Javier looked a bit sheepishly at Molly. He was feeling guilty about what he had said to her earlier. If it wasn't for her, he'd be dead right now._

_She shook her head at him. It was promise to talk about it later. He watched as she jumped into another police car to take her back to the embassy._

_He jumped into another car and was taken back to the embassy too. He made his way up to where the main DEA offices were. Surprisingly, he already saw Molly there with the reports to be written up._

_Bucking up his courage and downing his pride, he walked over to her._

_"Molly."_

_Molly looked up at him with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen on a woman._

_"Yes, Peña?"_

_"I... I want to thank you for saving me," he sheepishly apologized._

_"Don't bother," she smiled, "I may not like you, but I would never let you get killed."_

_"No, I need to. I've been a jerk to you," he apologized._

_"Peña-."_

_"Javi," he interrupted._

_"Javi," she walked over to him, "Javi. I like it."_

Javi chuckled at that memory. After that day, their whole relationship changed. They were like two sides of the same coin because they complimented each other so well. He was pretty sure they were giving people whiplash for weeks after that. No one could believe they were getting along so well.

He put out his cigarette and went to her door. He decided that he didn't want to leave her sleeping in an uncomfortable position on her couch. Her couch was fine, but he was certain she was slumped over. After some knocking, he heard her TV turn off and the scramble of the locks being opened.

"Javi?" a very sleepy Molly greeted him.

She looked absolutely adorable.

"Hey, I heard your TV and knew you had fallen asleep on your couch again," he whispered.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Javi noticed that she was wearing one of his T-shirts to sleep in. It came to her thighs where her shorts where peeking out. He felt his mouth water a bit, but he got a grip on himself. This was his partner, not one of his clienteles.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed," he gently coaxed.

Soon he had her safely tucked into her bed. He made sure she was lightly snoozing.

He walked over to other side of the room where his drawer was in her dresser. He noticed that it was low on his clothes. He would need to bring more later or wash some.

He went to the bathroom and changed into some boxers. Whenever he was home alone, he slept nude because he did enjoy going commando most days, but he wasn't in the habit of doing it here.

It wasn't like she hadn't seen him naked before or vise versa because that's what happens when you practically live together. Sometimes you got a glance of something more than was intended. He just didn't want that with their relationship though. He wanted it to feel more than just one of his late night hookups.

He walked over and crawled into bed too. Maybe this was wrong, but he was a man of indulgence. Sometimes all he wanted was to feel like he'd found a home, and Molly was his.

He pulled her close to himself and wrapped his arm around her. In response, she unconsciously curled up against him and laid her head into the crook of his shoulder.


	9. 8

Molly had sat enough through lots of stupid meetings but this seemed to be one of the worst.

Why in the world did Pablo Escobar decide to run for Congress?

Oh yeah, he was a massive narcissist that thought he was invincible.

If she didn't think she'd be killed, scratch that fired/suspended, she would go to one of his rallies and kill him herself.

"We cannot have Colombia become a narco state. We need to find someone who can prove this guy is a drug dealer," Noonan walked over with some alcohol, "Let's stop his campaign before it starts."

"What would you have us do?" Molly retorted quite sarcastically, "Shoot him on the spot because I would love to."

Noonan gave her a dirty look. She was overly stressed enough as it was to deal with their attitude.

"No one will go on record," Javi spoke.

Noonan passed him the alcohol.

"I got a better idea," Javi suggested, "We let him win. If we put him in the spotlight and prove he's a trafficker, the embarrassment alone might get this country off its ass."

Murphy nodded in a "let's try it" fashion.

Noonan looked at her.

Honestly, who was the ambassador here? Scratch that, she did enjoy being respected.

She really didn't think that Colombia would retaliate against Escobar over some drugs. It would have to be something worse, and she actually didn't want to know what that was.

"We really don't have anything to lose," she said.

***

First was a trip to Slimy Suárez where Molly gave him too much money. He told them that Pablo had, in fact, been arrested for a drug charge at some point in his life which was the best break they’d have for a while.

Next they found the funeral for the Sergeant who was over the arrest.

Next they found the funeral for the journalist who covered the story.

Next they found the funeral for the lawyer who defended Pablo.

Finally they found the burnt sight of the Judge who signed the arrest warrant.

"I need to put some lead into Slimy," Molly muttered, not under her breath.

Javi reached over to the passenger seat to put a hand on her shoulder, but Molly was so agitated. It didn't help at all. She just aggressively shrugged it away.

Murphy had been around them long enough to know that was not a good sign.

"We gotta get something on this motherfucker," Javi commented as they overlooked the fire department working on putting out the "house" fire.

"If he was arrested, there's gotta be a mug shot," Murphy suggested

"Yeah, well, the file's gone. If there was a mug shot, then it's gone, too," Javi irritatedly spoke.

"If there's a photo, there's a negative," Murphy deduced.

Leave it to the photographer to figure that out. When Javi and her were being hotheaded, Murphy was pretty level headed. She had to give him that one.

"But we need to find him without Slimy, or we'll be attending another funeral," Molly pointed out.

Luckily for them, Javi had some pretty interesting informants. Every rich man hired a hooker, and half of the hookers wanted to be a star. You couldn't be famous without a headshot, so a rich photographer was their favorite thing. A government photographer, now he might not make millionaire status, but he made enough.

It took them a few hits to find the right one, and she loved pretending to be a sicario a few times. It was all in the name of protecting their unconsenting informant.

This last time, however, Javi got to be the kidnapper, and this was the time they got the right one.

They got the negatives. They got him to Noonan with minimal information on how they got him. They got the man into witness protection. Molly was really hoping it was with the States, but Noonan hadn't told them which one specifically.

***

Molly sat in a suit next to Noonan while the boys stood off to the side.

Hey, she was a lady too.

Noonan had finally gotten up to calling the Colombia Minister of Justice, and he had actually shown up.

"How long have you had this picture?" Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara, asked suspiciously.

"That's classified," Noonan answered.

Lara threw the photo down that they had so lovingly collected.

"And what am I doing here? It's not America's role to get involved in other countries' elections. Once again, the hand of the United States remains invisible.

"Your party took money from Escobar," Noonan argued, "I should think you'd want to get ahead of this."

"Everyone took money," Lara argued like he was slick, "By the way, it's all American money, so why don't you take this to the press?"

Molly would gladly walk it into the doors herself. She would have already done so, if this was the moron they had to deal with.

"It should come from you. You're the Minister of Justice," Noonan finished.

The effect was immediate. Molly had to turn away to hide the grin across her face. Lara had the look of defeat on his face.

Noonan may not know anything about narcos politics and police corruption, but she sure knew how to outwit government politicians.

***

Molly found herself sitting in between Murphy and Javi as they waited on Escobar to arrive at the congress meeting.

Murphy had his hand on her upper arm while Javi had his hand on her upper thigh. She knew it was because of how agitated she had been lately.

Not only did she hate politics and Escobar, but now those things were now one, and Smarmy Lara was the only thing standing in between. She knew Noonan made an impact on him that day, but how much, she didn't know.

Soon enough, the man of the century arrived.

If Javi and Murphy hadn't made sure she wasn't packing, she would have blown him to pieces in that moment.

Now she knew why they had to double check her, twice, maybe three times. First when they met up in the morning, second when they get in the car, and they arrived at the government building.

Without her boys holding her down, she would probably have flown across the room and nailed him with whatever weapon she had on. High heels had to be good for something, and she was wearing her tallest and pointest ones.

For the moment, she didn't know what the consequences would be nor did she care, she wanted to kill that monster.

Javi and Murphy shared a look with each other before quietly jumping on her. Noonan would ship them all back if they made a commotion. Murphy held her down by her legs so that Javi could wrap his arms around her.

"Calm down. Calm down, Molly. We can't take him out if you make a scene," Javi whispered in her ear.

"I could take him out right now," she aggressively whispered back.

"And if you do that, you'll go to jail if not an execution sentence," Javi whispered, "You've throw a lot of dealers in jail. You won't be protected there."

Molly had to stifle a whimper. There was nothing she wanted more than to end this mess once in for all. She'd been in Colombia longer than either of them. She'd been working with the Search Bloc for years. She'd seen the damage done over and over again with little recourse.

She didn't fight in the drug war because she cared about drug users. She fought in the drug war because of the devastation these people left in their wake. The users who did whatever it took to get their fix even if it destroyed the people they loved. The dealers who did whatever it took to keep users fixed... and both of these people did whatever it took, even mass murder.

Molly turned her face into Javi's chest. She breathed in the smell of his body and his cigarettes. She never liked the smell of tobacco smoke before she met Javi, but afterword, she swore that felt like a piece of home.

Having calmed down enough to listen to what was actually going on, she turned her face to see Lara walk up to the podium. Javi rubbed her head while they listened to his, surprisingly, scathing speech on drug cartels, drug lords, and political bribery. It opened up her eyes to see his fiery rebuke. He was absolutely gunning for it.

She couldn't tell if he was brave or stupid. Pablo Escobar would be sending assassins to his door as well as his family's door. He would definitely have to leave the country. He wouldn't be the first one who had to leave for their own safety. If there ever was a sign that things had gone to far, it was the fact that their own government's politicians had to flee their own country.

The whole finally of this bit was the massive poster that Lara had made. It was the mugshot of Pablo Escobar that they had so carefully collected. She really wanted to keep that poster. She wasn't sure she wanted to appreciate him in an arrest or use it as target practice.

Javi, herself, and Murphy watched as Pablo Eacobar finally left the congress floor. It seemed he had had enough of this.

_After this day, I kinda regretted not letting Molly at him. Once again, the body count would be much lower._

***

Rodrigo Lara had earned her respect tenfold after that congressional meeting.

He racked up meetings.

He revealed soccer 'futbol' (Soccer was the term coined first.) teams by narcos.

He downed planes by denying permits.

He even fined the animal importations for Pablo Escobar.

The only way Pablo could fight back without a rousing suspicion was by talking to news reporters and playing up his "Robin Hood" approach.

Valeria Velez, a local news reporter, was the worst offender of this. Molly has no doubts she was probably in bed with them.

Molly was currently outside the door to the Minister of Justice's office. Murphy was adamant that they do something to give him some protection, so she drove him over with a bulletproof vest. She was also there as a translator if need be, but Lara had decided to humor Murphy by speaking to him in English and in private.

"Agent Molly Buckimore," Lara spoke to her as he and Murphy walked out of the office.

Molly noticed Lara was holding the vest at least.

"Yes, Minister Lara."

"Please call me Rodrigo," he walked over to her warmly.

"Rodrigo, how are you?" she spoke pleasantly.

Her mom always said you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and for once, she was willing to humor him.

"I'm fine. You, Americans, can rest a bit easier now knowing that Colombia's under our control. Our people will handle the drug war," he smirked, "But I do have to thank you for your service. You, my dear, have been in Colombia for a long time. Maybe you should think about staying long term."

"I actually have, and maybe I will. You take care now. I'm sorry to see you go because I know how hard you are working for Colombia," Molly smiled, maybe flirtatiously, at him.

Lara smiled back at her and nodded.

Murphy quickly led her away from the man. He didn't like the way he was looking at her. He knew the man was married, but he'd been in Colombia long enough to know that didn't matter here. He also wasn't interested in seeing how Javi would take it if this man took off with you.

He knew you two weren't dating? Or exclusive from the tales of Javi's latest escapades but he had been around long enough to see that you two had some strange partnership relationship. Dare he say, a romantic one, but not? He was still so confused.

"Aw Murph. Were you worried about me?" Molly teased, "It's not like me to do a Peña."

Murphy rolled his eyes before ruffling her hair. He found out she was only three years younger than him even if she still looked twenty four.

***

The next day, they had gotten a call to the scene of a shooting involving Minister Rodrigo Lara as he was being driven to the airport. The same airport that was supposed to take him to another country out of Colombia and away from Escobar's men.

Molly walked over, followed by her partners to see the car. She would have known he was dead instantly even without the local police and meds telling them that. It was covered in bullets.

She looked in to see that he had a head shot along with some side angled bullets. That vest Murphy insisted on taking him wouldn't have been enough to save him.

"He didn't wear it," Murphy uttered with a sigh.

"Wouldn't have made a difference," Javi agreed with her.

"A vest can't stop a headshot," she finished.


	10. 9

As if Slimy Suárez couldn't waste their time even more, he called them to their meeting spot.

" _I brought this for your friend's wife_ ," he spoke as he put a bag down in front of them.

He had the most pleased grin on his face that she had ever seen.

" _I hope she likes it_ ," he said as he took out a Siamese mixed looking cat by the scruff of its neck.

She hated Slimy, but she did think that cat was pretty.

Her companions were definitely not as amused.

"No _thanks_ ," Murphy retorted and walked away.

" _You're fucking crazy, asshole!_ " Javi rebuked and also walked away.

Molly was conflicted. On one hand, he was a slimeball who got all their potential informants killed. On the other hand, the cat was innocent.

She quickly ran over and took the cat gently into her arms before following after Javi and Murphy.

When she made it to the car, both of her guys looked at her like she was the crazy one.

"What? The cat's innocent," she defended.

"We're not keeping the cat," Javi argued.

"Why not?"

"Who's gonna watch him whenever we go on any missions?" Javi made his point.

Molly turned to Murphy who was also looking at her like she was insane.

"Murphy, wouldn't Connie like to see her?"

"Do... Don't bring my wife into this," Murphy gapped.

Nope, he did not want him and his wife in between this couple spat.

"I'll give her a call. I bet she'll love Puff Two," Molly grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"We're not calling it Puff 2," Javi looked at her like she was being absurd.

"But we are calling her something," Molly clarified.

"We're not keeping a cat and this is final," Javi literally put his foot down.

***

Murphy would have chuckled louder, but Javi looked like he was gonna blow a gasket.

They were currently at a veterinarian office getting "Puff 2" looked at.

Javier Peña had to be the translator since Molly didn't know any words about around animals, and Javi grew up a farm.

" _The cat is pretty healthy. We've given her all the shots and checked her for worms. We can send you the results for the other tests we conducted_ ," the pet vet explained to them.

" _Thank you. Yes, just send the results to the American embassy_ ," Javi forced out.

He looked like he was in pain.

" _She is slightly malnourished but a healthy diet of cat specific food should take care of that_ ," the vet continued and passed their new cat to Molly, " _We'll need a name for the paperwork. So what are you going to call her?_ "

Molly turned to Javi.

"Not Puff 2," he immediately stopped.

"What about Sagwa?" she suggested, "It looks like a Siamese."

"How do you spell it?" he sighed.

"S-A-G-W-A."

Javi turned to the vet.

" _The name is Sagwa. S-A-G-W-A._ "

The vet looked at them like they were crazy, but she went over and got the paperwork filed.

Soon Molly was carrying out a clean and veterinarian approved cat to the car with Javi sulking behind her.

"I'll give you Puff's old stuff. The food's a little old, but it should get you by for a few weeks," Murphy explained as he got into the car.

"I said I was a dog person," Javi muttered angrily under his breath.

The two of them could barely take care of themselves. She should never have picked up the cat.

***

Connie met them outside the apartment complex with all the items that Puff used to own. She was very curious about why Steve called her to tell her that their most confusing couple now owned a cat.

Seeing it now, she knew exactly what was happening. Molly wanted the cat, and Javi was along for the ride even if he didn't want to be.

It was a pretty cat though. Her heart broke seeing it because she missed Puff. Her poor baby didn't deserve that.

Steve walked over to his wife.

"See what I see," he whispered to her.

"Oh I see it," she replied.

Molly was getting Javi to help her set up the litter box of all things.

"Do you think Sagwa will like it here?" she finally asked.

"She'll be fine, but I better not find any cat hair in the bedroom or on my clothes," Javi pointed at her.

"We'll get a lint roller," she assured.

"What if we left her outside instead? I bet she'll be fine outside. I bet Slimy picked up a stray," Javi suggested.

"But she's part Siamese, I'm sure. He probably got her off one of our dead potential informants. We can't let her out. She might run away."

"If she leaves, then maybe she wasn't meant to stay."

"We're not leaving her outside, Javi. You can keep your clothes in your drawer or your room," she reasoned.

"What about the bedroom?"

***

Connie was curled up on the couch with her husband while they watched the TV.

".... So Molly and Javi?" she asked.

"What about them?" Steve asked.

"They seem to be very domestic."

"Yep," he said with a pop.

"Do you think they'll get together at some point?"

"Aren't they kinda already together?"

"You know what I mean," Connie glanced up at her husband.

"Possibly," he shrugged, "Both of them need to get off their asses about it."

"I think so too," Connie whispered as she snuggled even closer into Steve.

***

Molly was curled up on the couch with Sagwa sitting on the armrest. Javi was leaned back with his arm around her shoulders.

They were watching some news outlet. Ever since Lara's assassination, there was a lot of buzz in the political spectrum. Sometimes they got update news from their superiors, but more times than not, any information they received came from various informants.

The TV was just a way for them to figure out what the public knew or what civilians shouldn't know. It was like every waking moment involved solving their case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the TV show Sagwa the Siamese cat came out after 1980s in 2001, but I owned a rescue Siamese that I named Sagwa after the TV show, so this just seemed right.
> 
> But a personal side note. If y’all don’t mind.


	11. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also a fair warning, The CIA man on the show isn’t named, and I never could find one. His actor is Richard T. Jones. His credit on IMDB is Agent DEA. Which I think is fairly weird since Lou Wysession is in just as many scenes as him and is named (and I had a bit of time trying to find that one too).
> 
> Instead of giving him a name I just call him CIA man while I was writing it. I know that’s fairly lazy, but I originally didn’t intent to publish this until I was done, but I got to a point where I felt like I wanted someone other than myself to see this to help me with some inspiration.
> 
> I might go back and rewrite his name, but I was holding off because I was hoping he would have one that I just hadn’t found yet. If he does, I can’t find it and would be open to adding one if any of you readers know what it is.
> 
> Also I’ve been a reader of fanfiction for several years but a writer for only a short time. I’m also confused as to all the website stuff of Archive of Our Own when it comes to publishing a fic. If anyone has any help, I’d appreciate it.
> 
> I’m only brining this up because if y’all want me to change his name, I’ll need to figure out how to edit it again which I’m fairly certain I know how to do, so I think I’m fine. I just want to let you know it won’t be an instant change.

Molly was overlooking the maps that Carrillo had spread out on his desk.

The world certainly had turned into their favor, for the moment or so it seemed.

The Colombian government approved the call for extradition to the United States which meant any narco sucker they found, they could ship him home. The jail of the USA was several degrees worse than it ever was in Colombia.

In Colombia, those crooks could have whatever they wanted. Jail time was just set partying time. The local police would even bring in hookers for them. It just made her sick.

"Extradition doesn't mean anything unless you can catch him," Carrillo warned.

"With our help, you will," Murphy encouraged.

He was a true patriot type.

"Oh, that's right," Carrillo scoffed as he walked around the office, "Gringos to the rescue."

Molly bowed her head in shame.

"It's one fucking man against the United States of America," Murphy scoffed this time.

Murphy. Murphy. Murphy. You still haven't gotten the message yet.

"One man with helicopters, airplanes, vehicles, planned escape routes, and a network of informants," Carrillo enforced.

"Our government will provide men, money-," Javi tried.

Once again, Javier's patriotism was getting in the way of truth.

"You make it sound so easy," Carrillo interrupted.

"American money, men. That doesn't mean anything if our information isn't correct," Molly added, "And people would rather trust a man who's appeared to help them over a 'dictatorship' type of government like the USA."

"But Escobar has always managed to stay one step ahead of us," Carrillo continued.

"Help us catch him," Murphy tried.

There was a reformation of police duties now with the new acting Minister of Justice. There was a new General over narcotics which meant new leadership across the board.

Molly knew he would give anything to go back to hunting this guy.

"I'll never be assigned to this. Jaramillo hates my guts," Carrillo looked a bit defeated at that.

"Let me take care of it," Javi suggested.

If anyone could do it, he could. He may not talk a lot out in the field, but he was a smooth talker when he needed to be.

"You think extradition's a victory?" Carrillo asked.

"It is," Murphy was sure of himself.

"Escobar will not go lightly. He will make Colombia bleed," Carrillo finished.

Soon Murphy and Javi left the room.

" _Molly_ ," Carrillo walked over to her, " _My wife wants to ask how you are?_ "

This meant I am actually asking you, but my masculinity and stone cold exterior keeps me from openly offering companionship.

" _I'm fine. I got a cat recently. Javi doesn't like her, but she loves him. How's your kids? Auntie Molly hasn't been around much, have I?_ " she asked.

Carrillo nodded in amusement when he pictured Javi fighting with the cat. He wasn't gonna admit it in front of anyone, but Molly was like a dear sister to him.

He didn't know what possessed him that day to look out for her because he thought h

She was just some stupid gringa who was in way over her head. His first impression was that she'd be gone within the week, if not the day. Then she did the gutsiest move he had ever seen a gringo do. She basically scaled a building and shot a man off a roof.

After that, he called her for everything. He called her for almost every bust, every raid, every potential sicario spot. He called her even when there were disputes that weren't narcos related. He was determined to make sure she was equipped to take on the most dangerous country in the world.

He couldn't protect her from everything, but he'd do whatever it took to protect her for just a little longer.

" _Maybe but neither have I. I'll see what my wife says about a visit soon_ ," Carrillo spoke as he led her out.

***

"Communists. They're the real threat to the security of this country," spoke Major Wysession.

Molly was pretty sure her brain cells were dying.

"All due respect, but Colombian cocaine has killed more Americans than Soviet troops," Javi interjected.

"We got FARC, we got M-19, we got EPL, we got ELN, all supported by the Soviets and Cubans," Wysession pointed out on his person map, "Sorry Agent Peña, but our resources gotta be directed at America's problems, and you don't get to tell us what those are."

"And what prey tell is America's problems?" Molly snapped back, "Will the bodies line the street corners? Is that when it tells you? Colombia may be the violent epidemic, but don't think that narcos won't move on us if we give them ground."

"I don't appreciate being talked to like that, little missy," Wysession taunted, "I'm in American. I served more on US soil than you ever have. You got shipped to Colombia, and we can ship you right back, but clearly this is more your speed."

Molly stood up from her seat angrily.

"Stand down, agent," Noonan ordered.

Molly sat down as tensely as possible.

This went on for several agonizing minutes later.

"Ambassador, if the CIA and the Mil group provide assets, the Colombians will get Escobar," Murphy tried to persuade, "We're talking a huge blow to the cocaine trade and saving thousands of lives-."

"Ambassador," CIA representative spoke up, "The CIA agrees with Mil group. Pablo Escobar is no longer a congressman. He's just a wanted Colombian drug trafficker, and as such, he is not a direct threat to our country's strategic interests in South America. The CIA would prefer not to get involved in local police problems. Let the Colombians get him."

"That shows what you know. Do you really think Pablo Escobar would have made it to Congress if he wasn't a threat?" Molly pipped up, "He has enough of the love of the people to be dangerous. The poorest neighborhoods kill for him, die for him. Do you really see people lining up that way for our President Reagan?"

"I served in the military," Wysession started up quite offended.

Men always talked about offended women when women still had to deal with this crap on a daily basis.

"No offense, sir, but just because you'd be that grateful for table scraps doesn't make it right," Molly countered.

Javi and Murphy stole glances at each other. Molly knew how to get them off with paperwork and Noonan, but since Colombia had been practically invisible until now, she wasn't dealing all that well with these newer leadership groups coming in.

"Agent Buckimore, please stand down," Noonan scolded before addressing the others, "You are dismissed."

This left Javi, Murphy, and Molly in the office.

"I may not understand how a drug war runs, but I do know you're right, agent. But you need to understand I have my hands tied. I can not afford an internal war in this embassy," Noonan spoke up.

After a short discussion, the three left the room.

"Noonan really thinks allocating $100,000 will be enough to go after Escobar," Murphy scoffed.

"Yeah, it's a fucking joke," Javi agreed.

"That's what he spends on shoes, isn't it?" Murphy jested.

"I thought you would have said underwear," Molly nudged him.

Murphy just swapped her away.

"The CNP has zero chance of capturing him with that bullshit," Javi scoffed angrily.

"So what do we do?" Murphy asked.

"Use what little we got to even the odds," Javi said.

"I have a few phone calls to make apparently," Molly said.

"You?" Murphy asked.

"Hey! Javier's not the only one with connections. And I don't have to sleep with those!" Molly defended.

"I don't sleep with all of them!" Javi gapped at them.

Murphy and Molly exchanged looks that clearly said "yeah, right".

***

After some strings being pulled, Molly found out where General Jaramillo was gonna be and that he was open to meeting with them for the right price.

All three of them going would have aroused suspicion, so it was a clear choice for Javi to go. He had been there almost as long as she had, and even though he was the butt of several jokes in the embassy over his nighttime activities, he was well respected in the Colombian community.


End file.
